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High-Flux Ultracold-Atom Chip Interferometers

$700K

Recipient Firm

Abstract

ColdQuanta's ultimate objective is to produce a compact, turnkey, ultracold-atom system specifically designed for performing interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates. In Phase II, we propose to develop an ultracold-atom system based on ColdQuanta's channel cell technology. With this approach to ultrahigh-vacuum systems, we can design and fabricate cells that are far smaller and more robust than any other vacuum technology used with ultracold atoms (of which we are aware). With a channel cell, each stage of BEC production can occur simultaneously throughout a series of interconnected vacuum chambers. The resulting system creates ultracold atoms quasi-continuously and increases production rates by virtually eliminating dead time between sequential operating cycles. Part of the channel cell's small size is due to an integrated atom microchip that can be used to quickly produce ultracold atoms and utilize them for a variety of applications. With the flexibility afforded by atom chips, channel cells can be easily configured for a variety of interferometer geometries, including a Michelson configuration for measuring accelerations and a Sagnac configuration for measuring rotations.